Enthusiasm ahead of Paris-Roubaix Femmes despite no Trouée d’Arenberg

The famed pavé of Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)

The inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes takes place on Saturday, October 2 between Denain and Roubaix. Deferred from last year, the race finally makes its debut for the professional women’s peloton, and organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) say they are 'pleased to be able to make this a reality'.

The women’s race will not run the full 258km and 30 sectors (55km) of cobbled sections of the men’s race. They will race 116km over 17 sectors (29.2km) of the famous pavés, with the women’s route being identical to the men’s after 31km, at Hornaing, and then through the final 85km into the Roubaix Velodrome.

“Although Denain, the start town is close to the Trouée d’Arenberg, it wouldn’t have been feasible to start the race by going straight into this cobbled section. In the men’s race, for instance by the time they reach Arenberg they will have done 10 sections and little groups will have formed, so that allows the race to be stretched out a little. But in the women’s race, we can’t just launch the whole of the women’s peloton onto the Trouée d’Arenberg as a first cobbled section. It’s true that the Trouée is an iconic section, but we still also have other famous sections like Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de L’Arbre, which will make the course challenging already.

“At Hornaing, we have three sections one after the other, and folks will suffer a little on the approach to the feed station at Beuvry-La-Forêt. Then they attack the section as Beuvry, which is also demanding and then the section of the Abattoir, Le Chemin des Abattoirs at Orchies and that’s going to be very difficult. I think that the race is going to split up quite rapidly. Mons-en-Pévèle will be a challenge, and Cysoing-Bourghelles will be really demanding before they tackle Carrefour de L’Arbre. I think there is enough in this course to make it extremely tough for the riders.

“That’s because that when you enter the cobbled sections you have to be riding very hard, but not in the red. You’re not at your absolute maximum, but are riding at a similar effort to when doing a time trial. The current World Time Trial Champion, Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) has the ideal profile. Then there are riders like Lisa Brennauer (Team Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling), Annemiek van Vleuten (Team Movistar), and don’t forget Lotte Kopecky (Liv Racing). If the cobbles get greasy or muddy then a rider with good bike handling skills – someone like Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma), who is skilful on slippery terrain like in cyclo-cross, could be well suited to these conditions. Of course, we will find out on Saturday which rider is best suited to this course on Saturday.”